70 Creative and Practical Uses of the Ampersand

Posted on 23. Mar, 2010 by Shawn Ramsey in Inspiration

When it comes to typographical characters, one cannot ignore the beautiful sweeping lines and shapes of the ampersand. While I would love to give you a history lesson on how it evolved from the combination of the letters E and T and then took on all of these crazy stylized looks triggered from the minds of a long line of designers, I wont. This post is focused more on the beauty of this stylish character and some practical uses as well.

For this article, I’ve rounded up a lengthy list of attractive and elegant ampersand characters both to provide a little eye candy and to also help inspire your inner creativity. You’ll see a variety of examples of how this symbol is being used in modern times and the many different shapes that it now takes on. At the end of the article, I have also provided a roundup of several different fonts that are great for making use of the character. Here are 70 Creative and Practical Uses of the Ampersand.

The Pretty Ones

Let’s start this post with several creative and inspiring examples of the ampersand character. Some of these were chosen for their sheer beauty, some for their strong colors, a few for their textures and others were just simply amazing. Whatever the reason, the examples below showcase some very interesting uses of this unique typographical character.

Note: If you find one you like, simply click the image to be taken to the source. Often times the author will include a short description providing some info about the image.

24 Line Poynder Ampersand Print

Painted Ampersand

24 Line Ampersand – ‘Poynded’

Ampersand (New Kensington, PA)

Ampersand on a Blue Awning

Ampersand (Brackenridge, PA)

From Neriko & Sons Construction Truck

Ampersand &

Ampersand

Ampersand 2

My Ampersand for the Ampersand Show

&

&

Serif &

Ampersand

An Ampersand You Shall Have

And Baskerville

Ampersand

Cork Board &

And?

Ampersand &

& Poster

&

Pewter Number Ampersand

Ampersand

Ampersand

Moebius Strip Ampersand

Ampersand &

And The Ampersand

Ampersand &

Caslon Metal Type Ampersand &

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Ampersand &

Awning Ampersand (New York, NY)

Creative: Ampersand Collection – Belgium Knot

Ampersand &

Ampersand on Cracked Glass

Recaf&ate Ampersand

Ampersand

Ampersand

H&iti

Hhumbert7′s Found

Ampersand for my new font

Downtown LA

40 & …

DSCN5686

Ampersand!

Ampersand

Ampersand &

Ampersand

The Useful Ones

Now that you’ve seen many different creative examples of the ampersand symbol, let’s take a look at some practical uses by examining several different fonts which make good use of this curvy and sweeping character. Below you will find 20 different fonts all of which include an attractive ampersand symbol. The majority of these are free, but I couldn’t ignore a few paid fonts that stood out from the crowd. Check your fonts folder, you may already have them installed.

Note: Click on the image to be taken to the download source.

Wrapping Things Up

That’s all I’ve got for this post. Hopefully you’ve found some inspiration from some of the examples or maybe found a font or two that might come in handy for future projects. If you know of some great uses of the ampersand, a font that takes full advantage of the character or just want say a few things about this roundup, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comment section below. Thanks!

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Tags: creativity, fonts